


Love Me While Your Wrists Are Bound

by Jackdaw816



Series: Siren [4]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Episode: s02e13 Exit Wounds, Fix-It of Sorts, Loss, M/M, Merpeople, Sirens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:13:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27455527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackdaw816/pseuds/Jackdaw816
Summary: What does a siren fear most?
Relationships: Jack Harkness/John Hart
Series: Siren [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969828
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	Love Me While Your Wrists Are Bound

**Author's Note:**

> The long-awaited Exit Wounds installment is here!! (I say long, it's not even been a month) This will (hopefully) not be the end of this series, I've got two other fics in the works because I love siren!John so much, it's really quite pathetic
> 
> Title from Siren by Kailee Morgue as always

Jack revived to find himself hanging from chain-bound wrists, and for a long, truly horrifying moment, he thought he was back on the Valiant. Fear surged through him, and he struggled for a moment before reality set in. He was in the Hub; he was home. But he was still chained. And his captor was across the room, staring at him with unblinking blue eyes. 

John Hart. His ex-partner, ex-lover, and current enemy. And maybe most importantly, a siren. A very powerful man who wasn’t a man at all and currently held all the cards.

“This is a little extreme, don’t you think?” Jack said, gesturing best he could with manacled hands. He’d forgotten how much it ached in his deltoids to hang like this. And it would only get worse. Undoubtedly, John had removed his comms and weapons. No escape. John didn’t answer his question. He just shook his head slowly before looking away.

Jack frowned. He’d come back to the Hub after seeing John’s goddamn knock-off Star Wars hologram with special guest star Gray and had been met with a hail of bullets. No banter, no monologuing. Nothing. Even his hologram had been uncharacteristically succinct. Something was wrong.

“Where’s Gray?” Jack shouted. “What have you done with my brother?” John didn’t even look his way. Instead, he stepped toward-

“Don’t touch those controls!” Jack ordered as John began fiddling with the Rift Manipulator. Forget him, John could rip all of Cardiff apart. John glanced at him, then opened his bracer. Jack barely had a moment to think before electricity coursed through him and he screamed in pain. Seemingly unbothered, John went back to the Manipulator as Jack gasped for air.

“John,” Jack called, voice weak. No response. “Whatever you’re planning, we’re going to stop you.” John finally walked toward him, still silent. He raised an eyebrow and spread his arms wide as if daring Jack to try. Jack struggled, but it was pointless. John knew what he was doing when it came to restraints. When he gave up, John almost looked disappointed.

* * *

The city was dark by the time they reached Cardiff Castle. Jack felt a numb sort of panic as John forced him toward the edge of the roof. He tried to fight back, but John sent more electricity coursing through him and he slumped to the ground.

“I can make things right with you,” Jack gasped. John looked down at him and shook his head. He reached into his jacket and pulled something out. With a growing horror, Jack realized that the technology looked very familiar.

“What are you doing?” Jack asked, voice calm despite the fear. John looked up, eyes sorrowful, and mouthed ‘I’m sorry.’ Jack stumbled to his feet as John pressed the final button. He felt rather than saw the first blast. He turned around in time to see the next. And the next. And the next. All across the skyline, the twinkling lights of Cardiff were ravaged by burning fires and thick smoke.

“You’ve destroyed the city!” Jack shouted, rage, shock, and fear filling every atom of his being. His team was out there, and while he didn’t doubt they could handle themselves, they had no idea what was happening. He stood, frozen with shock, as John stepped closer and buried his face in Jack’s shoulder. Jack clung to him instinctively, still trying to take in the carnage.

“What have you done?” Jack cried, the words a desperate amalgam of panic and anger. Eyes still full of fire and smoke, it took him too long to notice the glow of the Rift forming around them. When he did, he snapped back to reality and found himself in John’s clutches. “Stop! Get off of me!” John just held him tighter, and they fell through the Rift together.

* * *

Jack opened his eyes and immediately squinted them shut again. It was night, and now it was day. They’d definitely traveled in time. The real question was how much. Jack rolled over and staggered to his feet. He held up a hand to block the sun and looked around. 

He was in a large grassy clearing surrounded by trees with no sign of John or anything else. Just unspoiled nature as far as the eye could see. Turning around in circles, he finally spotted John, walking toward him quickly. Jack snarled. The second John got close enough, Jack punched him in the face.

“Take us back now!” Jack ordered. John raised a hand to his face, checking for blood, then shook his head. “Why are you doing this?” Jack watched in confusion as John took off the ring he was wearing and pressed it into Jack’s hand, curling his fingers around it. He glanced around cautiously, then swallowed hard.

“I’m not,” John said, voice hoarse and so quiet Jack almost missed it. “He is.” Stunned, Jack slipped the ring into a pocket of his coat before crossing his arms.

“What do you mean he?” Jack demanded. John smiled half-heartedly.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he replied, voice still weak. Jack frowned.

“What happened to you?” Jack asked, reaching out toward John’s throat. Before he came within an inch, John grabbed his hand and forced it away, gripping it so tight Jack was surprised he didn’t feel bone shatter.

“We don’t have much time,” John said, ignoring Jack’s question. He looked around again. “We’re out of range, but it won’t take him long to figure out where we went.”

“What?” Jack asked, still baffled. John rolled his eyes and held up his right wrist. 

“Open it.” Jack did and flinched. John’s vortex manipulator had been damaged even worse than Jack’s. That’s why he had to use the Rift Manipulator to time travel. (Jack took a moment to worry about their lack of an exit plan.) But that wasn’t the strangest part. There was a vial set in the center, full of little glowing nanogenes. Red nanogenes.

“What the hell?” Jack murmured. John’s face went blank, and his eyes widened with fear. He closed his bracer and took a few steps backward, pointing over Jack’s shoulder. Jack rolled his eyes. Oldest trick in the book. He turned around anyway, squinting into the sun. A man was coming toward them, the sun silhouetting him like a halo.

“Gray?” Jack said, shocked. He knew John had found him, but there was a difference between an unspeaking hologram and the man who was smiling at him.

“I never stopped believing. I always knew we’d find each other again,” Gray said, then embraced him. Jack hugged back, overcome with emotion.

“I’m sorry,” Jack said. And he was. He just held Gray tight, relishing in the reunion. But Gray’s next words made his blood run cold. Then there was pain - sharp pain in his abdomen.

By the time he realized he’d been stabbed, it was too late. He tried to cling to Gray, but he was shaken off and dumped unceremoniously on the ground. His hands went instinctively to the blade, but his strength was already ebbing. He looked up to the sky and died.

* * *

John silently shackled his ankles and cuffed his wrists. Jack didn’t even look at him. Instead, he stared at Gray, his long-lost little brother. His clothing was… the less said about that the better. He had a scar, no, a brand on his neck and jaw. Aside from that, he looked fine, healthy even. But as he spoke, Jack realized that most of the damage was on the inside.

“What do you want from me?” Jack asked, trying to ignore how Gray’s words tore through him like daggers. Gray stood right in front of him, and yet Jack had never felt more distance between them.

“I want you to suffer,” Gray hissed. Jack listened in horror as Gray revealed his plan. He was to be buried alive beneath the city he’d spent most of his life protecting. “Each time you revive, with a throat full of earth, each time it chokes you afresh, and you thrash on the edge of death, you think of me.”

“Alright, calling a halt now,” John said, voice stronger than before. “I can’t let you do this.” He tried to step between them, but Gray pushed Jack into the surprisingly-neat grave before he could.

“Careful,” Gray said, looking him over. From his pocket, he pulled a syringe filled with a nasty-looking yellow substance. John flinched. “Fill the grave.”

“No way,” John said, taking a half-step backward. “I’m out.” His eyes flickered with rage. “ _Drop the-_ ” Gray’s arm swung forward, and the needle went into John’s neck. Jack flinched as Gray pushed the plunger. He’d thought they were working together, but obviously, their relationship was more than a little unbalanced.

John stumbled backward, blood dripping from his neck where the needle had been removed. Gray sneered, the expression twisting his face into something ugly. Raising a hand to his neck, John opened his mouth. But nothing came out.

“What did you do?” Jack shouted, surprised at the genuine rage he was feeling. Gray looked down at him.

“Injected a paralytic. The last one wore off quicker than expected.” 

“What?” Jack asked.

“Don’t you know? Your bitch is a siren. And the only way to keep yourself safe from a siren is to keep them quiet.” Gray cast a dismissive look at John who was pressing a cloth to his neck and glaring with the force of a thousand suns. “That’s how he found me. The creatures lived to torture, but they needed help to keep their prisoners in line. They used sirens.” Jack’s eyes went wide. “He controlled me, then freed me to use as a bargaining chip. But I forgave him. After all, he led me to you, dear brother.” 

“Gray,” Jack begged. “I can make this right. Just let me help.”

“No,” Gray snapped. “No, you can’t.” He turned back to John. “You. Fill the grave. I won’t ask again.” Some sort of silent understanding passed between them, and John nodded sharply. But then he looked into the grave. They made eye contact, and after a slow moment, Jack nodded. He couldn’t let someone else get hurt for him. Even John. 

John’s lip quirked upward in a sort-of half-smile. He turned to Gray, new confidence in his movements. He grinned, and Gray grinned back in some sort of confused mimicry. Then John snarled, hunting teeth out, and lunged.

Gray didn’t have a chance. John’s teeth tore into his neck, severing an artery and sending blood spraying. Jack and Gray both screamed; Jack with surprise, Gray with pain. John pulled back and spat blood and flesh onto the grass. Gray reached a hand uselessly to his throat before keeling sideways and falling into the grave. He landed on Jack with a solid thump.

“Gray!” Jack called, feeling blood soak through his clothes, ignoring the pain of the landing. “Gray, it’s going to be okay.” There was no response, just desperate breathing, and then silence. Jack screamed.

On the surface, John was standing stock-still, teeth and throat stained red. Jack struggled to move, but with his hands and feet cuffed and Gray’s dead weight on top of him, he was trapped. He called out, but if John heard him, he didn’t acknowledge it.

John raised his arm and flipped open his bracer. Jack watched as a glow surrounded him, and for a moment, panicked that he was being left behind. But the glow was red, and instead of whisking John away, it settled on his throat, snaking through his nostrils and his gills. Right, the nanogenes. He must have had them as a backup in case Gray used the paralytic again. The glow faded, and John took a deep breath. 

“Get me out of here!” Jack shouted. He was going to get out of this grave, and then he was going to kill John. Freedom from thousands of years underground was not worth Gray’s life. Nothing was. John grinned down at him, the smile not reaching his eyes. Jack watched stunned as John tilted his head back in a soundless howl. 

* * *

Jack reappeared in the Hub with John on his arm and Gray over his shoulders. They were met with four guns and a gunshot. John collapsed to the floor, screaming silently.

“Guns down, guns down!” Jack ordered. Luckily, the team obeyed as Jack got to his knees and laid Gray on the ground.

“Is that-?” Gwen asked, voice trembling. Jack nodded.

“Owen, can you?” Owen rushed over to Jack’s side, and Jack shook his head. “No, he’s-” Jack swallowed. “Take care of John.” 

“Jack, he tried to kill us.” Jack wasn’t sure who said it, everything was blending together.

“I’ll explain everything later, I promise,” Jack said. “Just… make sure he doesn’t die.” With that, Jack scooped Gray into his arms and staggered toward the autopsy bay. Alone, Jack laid Gray on the table and sunk to his knees. He wanted to scream but found he didn’t have the breath. Instead, he cried.

* * *

A few hours later, Gray was in cold storage, and everyone else was crowded in Jack’s office. Jack didn’t know who had shot John, and he wasn’t going to ask. It had been a clean shot and Owen had patched him up, so he was willing to let bygones be bygones. (It had been karma really.)

Jack was sat at his desk, Ianto by his side. John sat across from him, face cleaned of blood. The rest stood around the room, eyeing him warily. 

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Gwen demanded, slamming a hand on the desk. As a former copper, Jack couldn’t blame her. But John’s face wilted, just for a second, before he was smirking again. His hands moved intentionally, but Jack didn’t understand. He didn’t think he had ever learned GSL, and even if he had, he didn’t remember it now.

John rolled his eyes and grabbed a pen and a loose sheet of paper from the desk. He scribbled something down and slid it across the desk. Jack picked it up. It was just one word, but there was a slight problem. John’s handwriting was utter chicken-scratch. He showed it to Ianto and hoped the word was in English.

“Ring?” Ianto said. Jack took another look, and yeah, that looked about right. 

“He better not be proposing,” Owen said scathingly. John turned around and shot him a look as Jack reached in his pocket and pulled out the ring John had given him earlier. It was fairly simple; a gold band with a large green stone.

“This ring?” Jack asked. John nodded and held out his right hand. “Not sure why you needed me to keep it safe.” He slipped it on John’s finger. John turned to the spot in the room where no one was standing and held out his hand.

Light streamed from the ring, forming a green-tinted hologram. Holo-John glanced around nervously before speaking.

“I don’t know how long I have before he comes back, so I have to make this quick.” He smiled. “If you’re hearing this, I’m dead.” Five pairs of eyes landed on the very much not dead John. He waved his left hand dismissively. “Or Gray’s backup plan worked and I’m mute.” John held up a finger triumphantly. “He took nanogenes and corrupted them. If I didn’t do what he said, he would release them and kill my voice.” Holo-John shrugged. “So either I didn’t do what he said, or I died trying. Sounds like a noble act, but I really just don’t like people telling me what to do.” His face and tone grew somber. “Now, this part is specifically for Jack. So if you’re hearing this and you’re not Jack Harkness, do me a favor and turn off the ring.” John did just that and gave Jack a look. Crap.

“Okay, everyone out!” Jack ordered. “You’ve had a long day, go home and get some rest. I’ll see you bright and early; we’ve still got a city to clean up.” There was minor grumbling, but Tosh, Owen, and Gwen left quickly.

“Are you sure we should leave you alone with him?” Ianto murmured, still cautiously by Jack’s side. He laid a hand on Jack’s shoulder, then pulled it away when he noticed John watching. Jack nodded.

“He’s not the threat here.” Although he had just ripped out a man’s throat with his teeth. “That was Gray.” As much as it hurt to admit it. Ianto still looked concerned, so Jack leaned in and kissed him, the perfect ‘we’re both still breathing’ kiss. When they broke apart, Ianto nodded and left the room quickly. 

“Alright, show me my message,” Jack said, smiling a smile he didn’t quite feel. John nodded, and Holo-John reappeared. 

“Alright, if you’re not Jack, you’re a bitch.” Holo-John said cheerfully. “Jack, you’re also a bitch. You’re the whole reason I’m in this goddamn mess. I was trying to make things right, and I thought finding your brother would help even out the score. But Gray… he didn’t come away unharmed. He learned terrible things from those creatures.” Holo-John shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what he’s done, and I’m sorry for what I’ve done. And I hope that one day, you can forgive me. You’ve got all the time in the world, after all.” His head snapped up like a dog hearing a squirrel. “Shit, I think that’s him. I can’t let him catch me or-” He cut off, then looked straight forward, meeting eyes with a Jack who wasn’t there. “I love you.” He smiled, and the hologram shut down.

They sat in silence. Jack wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t think there was anything he could say. So much had happened and he could feel the ache of exhaustion gnawing at his bones. John’s last words rattled in his head, but he knew that he couldn’t acknowledge them. Not right now. He stood, and John stood as well.

“Do you have someplace to stay tonight?” Jack asked. John shook his head. Right. And he couldn’t go home without Gray’s vortex manipulator, which Jack was going to keep securely locked up for at least the night. “I’ll get you a hotel room, somewhere they won’t ask questions.” John raised a questioning eyebrow. “Yes, you can raid the minibar.” John rubbed his hands together eagerly. There was a moment of awkward silence, then John walked around the desk.

‘Thank you,’ John mouthed. Jack nodded stiffly, not quite sure what John meant. Jack hadn’t done a thing, he’d all but been a bystander. John’s eyes flickered over Jack’s mouth, but he pressed a kiss to Jack’s cheek. Then he walked away quietly, and Jack watched him go. 

Unless they could figure out a way to reverse the damage of the corrupted nanogenes (impossible in this time and highly unlikely elsewhere), John would never speak again. He would never laugh, never shout in joy or pain, never sing. He’d lost his power, but more than that, he’d lost his identity. After all, what good was a siren who couldn’t sing?

Jack ran his hands through his hair. Fuck. It was just all too much. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to punch John or thank him. Not to mention he’d died multiple times in just a few hours. He needed rest. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.


End file.
